For a six-year-old boy coming to terms with Type 1 juvenile diabetes, at least one of his dreams came true this Christmas.
Living with the disease means he has to test his blood — which involves pricking his finger — six to 10 times a day.
When Annelies Browne and Reto Marti asked their son Andrei Marti what he wanted for Christmas, he replied: “For this diabetes to end and for me to wake up and it was all just a dream,” he said. “I know that can’t happen, so my second choice would be a Rocky Mountain bike.”
Mountain biking is a huge part of the younger Marti’s life, spending hours at local bike parks or the North Saanich Free Ride Park. He was due for a new bike, but finances were tight; his mom even took on a new job just to help with the cost of his monthly medication.
The couple turned to the Help Fill A Dream Foundation, which had already been working with the family through the Family Assistance Program.
“I understand that you have already helped us and probably have tons of dreams to fill,” said Browne in a letter to the organization. “But if there is any way you can make this happen, you would certainly have one overjoyed boy.”
Just before Christmas, the organization surprised him with a new Rocky Mountain Vertex 20 at the Santa Scoot event that took place in Market Square.
Craig Smith, executive director of Help Fill A Dream Foundation, said that apart from receiving a bicycle for Christmas, there is evidence that the physical activity of riding the bike can be beneficial.
“Andrei is learning to better manage his diabetes and to cope with his illness through biking,” he said.
Founded in 1986, the Victoria-based Help Fill A Dream Foundation fills dreams for Vancouver Island children under the age of 19 who have life-threatening conditions. Over the years, they have helped more than 2,000 children realize their dreams.
For more information, go to helpfilladream.com.
Tattoo day raises $4,500 for Poppy Campaign
Christmas was good for veterans in need as a local business donated more than $4,500 to the Poppy Campaign of the Canadian Legion.
For the past five years, Urge Tattoo Salon has donated proceeds from a day of tattooing to benefit veterans’ programs.
The event started as a tribute to the Canadian Armed Forces (Urge was originally owned by ex-servicemen who had served overseas) and has grown into a yearly fundraising event.
Mark Adamson, owner of Urge, Al Murray of Goldstream Tattoo Parlor, and Jim Carter and Jesse Brigden of Incendiary Tattoos all donated their time for the event, which took place on Remembrance Day.
In the past five years, the group has raised almost $10,000.
For more information, go to urgetattoos.com or legion.ca.
Gifts and cheer come to Mount St. Mary
For the 15th year in a row, the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre, Esquimalt has brought Christmas cheer and magic to the residents at Mount St. Mary Hospital.
Every fall, staff at the care centre put together a wish list for each resident — from a pair of slippers to a package of cookies and chocolate.
Elves at the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre shop for the items — and usually add a few extra gifts to each package. They arrive on Christmas Eve to join Santa in delivering the much-anticipated presents to residents.
“We treasure this long-term relationship between the residents and staff of Mount St. Mary Hospital and the generous staff of the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre, Esquimalt,” said Sara John Fowler, CEO of Mount St. Mary Hospital. “The ongoing commitment of the Health Services folks is very special, and the delivery of personalized gifts makes Christmas magical for our residents.”
For more information, go to mtstmary.victoria.bc.ca
Saxophones play a tune of giving
Six musicians who make up Santa’s Saxophone Quintet raised more than $900 for the Times Colonist Christmas Fund last month.
The group raised the money by performing 10 concerts in December, an annual tradition that goes back more than 15 years.
While the group is called a quintet, there are actually six musicians in the group, because Bill Stamps plays guitar with the five saxophonists: Don Reksten, Peter Gardner, Kryn Zedel, Don Hauser and Brian McLagan.
The musicians all know each other from having played together in different groups around Victoria. They perform as the quintet Saxophoria throughout the year, and feature special Christmas arrangements as Santa’s Saxes every December.
For more information, go to petesmusicmill.ca/ SaxophoriaSanta_Sax_Quintet.php.
UVic team develops aids for dementia patients
A University of Victoria organization is looking for families affected by early-stage dementia to test one of two new technologies.
CanAssist is an innovative organization within the university that develops assistive technologies for people with a wide range of disabilities. It is an integral part of its support for persons with disabilities and for community engagement goals.
It recently began testing two new technologies aimed at helping people with dementia. They enable people to remain in their own homes for as long as safely possible — at the same time reducing stress and worry for their caregivers. The technologies are funded by the B.C. Ministry of Health.
The Wandering Redirect System is geared toward night-time wandering, delivering personalized video and audio messages to redirect individuals when they approach a home exit at inappropriate times.
The Phone-in Monitoring System uses a standard phone and wireless sensors to provide information to a family member about an individual’s activity when he or she is home alone.
The technology would be installed at no cost to eligible families. Families would be asked to provide feedback on the technology’s effectiveness and can keep the device at no charge for as long as it is useful.
If you think one of these technologies could benefit your loved one with dementia, please contact Ron Duffell in partnership development at [email protected] or 250-472-5330.
For more information, go to canassist.ca.
United Way donation turns lives around
You might not have met Chris Hancock, but you might have seen him around. Five years ago, you might have found him sitting in a bus shelter on Douglas Street, homeless, addicted and broke — with no money for a fare and certainly with no particular place to go.
If you donated to the United Way, you might also be the reason he turned his life around, thanks to a network of services that provide a hand up to people in need.
“I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without United Way-funded services,” said a sober Hancock. “They helped me physically, mentally, financially and found me a place to live. They gave me my life back.”
He is now an avid hiker, backpacker and snowboarder. He has a job that never fails to bring a smile to his face. He has a supportive family and feels connected to his community. All in all, he’s one happy man.
You can help others like him.
The United Way launched its community campaign in September with a target of 2,000 additional donors to help change lives. A gift, big or small, has a ripple effect. The power of one individual contribution combined with 11,000 other donations helps bring meaningful change to 80,000 individuals, families, children and youth in our community.
“For as little as a dollar a day, you can help provide job-search training and warm lunches to individuals in need,” said Patricia Jelinski, CEO of United Way.
To see additional information on the impact a donation to United Way can make, visit uwgv.ca/my-impact.
Donations to United Way’s community campaign are accepted at workplaces, at the office, 1144 Fort St., phone 250-385-6708, or online at uwgv.ca.
